Comments on Acts: God became a Jew

"Pastor Buddy, A lot of people miss the important point that Acts is
the history of the early church. It shows the hardship and
determination of the Apostles and of course the fact at how quickly the
Good News spread in the course of 35 years. I definitely feel and see
the historical part of what Luke is trying to convey to us. The way he
wrote it was for us to SEE what the early church went through, The
Lights keep coming on here! God Bless, John"

Thank you John for these comments. They are well stated. I want to
add one more appendant to study #004 before we begin a 5th study on
Acts.

With regard to the new covenant it is crucial that we understand who
Jesus really is. Only God Himself would have the divine right to fulfill
one covenant and institute another. To see Jesus Christ as other than
God, is to misunderstand both the covenant, and God's work of
redemption. (Please lay aside any arguments on deity. It is immaterial
to this understanding.)

The only way for God to remove the Law of Moses and replace it with
the Law of Christ, would be if He, God Himself, were the fulfillment of
the Law of Moses in its entirety. As I said earlier, this is what happened at
the cross. Jesus is God fully revealed in the flesh. And since the Law of Moses
was a marriage contract (covenant) between Israel and the God of Israel, then in
the death of Jesus the contract became of no effect. Since there have been no
questions on this, I'll add just a few more thoughts.

Now think about this --- In the incarnation, God became a Jew. Don't
fall off your stool. This fact is true to the Scriptures. God did not
incarnate Himself as a Roman, or a Greek, or an Egyptian. Jesus
Christ was born into the Jewish race as a son of Abraham. Therefore
He became a Jew among Jews. He walked as a Jew. He worshiped
as a Jew. He did Jewish things. And introduces another window we
need to look through with regard to the new covenant.

Pay close attention to what Jesus tells the Samaritan lady at the well.
She wants to argue religion. The Lord simply says, "Women, believe
Me, and hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in
Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not
know; we worship what we know, FOR SALVATION IS FROM THE
JEWS. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father
seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him
must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:21-24)

There is so much to be said here, but let me simply share some
highlights. Not only did Jesus die on the cross in that his marriage to
Israel was then fulfilled, but Jesus also died on the cross as God's
sacrifice Lamb. It could be said that the Jews provided the sacrifice,
but that the Gentiles were present at its offering. After all it was the
Romans who actually offered the sacrifice. They drove the nails in
Him, and lifted Him up in His sufferings. So both Jew and Gentile
participated in the death of Messiah. (Deep thinking for you who want
to consider this more closely.)

But did he rise from the grave as a Jew? Not really. Jesus arose and
presented a new humankind that would represent all mankind, Jew
and Gentile. Listen carefully to the apostle Paul:

"Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh;
even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we
know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have
come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to
Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not
counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us
the word of reconciliation. (2Co5:16-19)

Notice these things:

(1) We do not know Jesus after the flesh (as a Jew) any longer.

(2) There is a new spiritual humanity that came out of the cross, and in
this humanity there is no longer a Jew or a Gentile. We are either in
Christ, or we are still in our sins, that is, we are still Jews and Gentiles.

(3) The old things passed way. This simply means that the new
covenant is entirely new. It is made for a spiritual or a heavenly people. The
former covenant was made for a earthly people.

(4) Everything in the new covenant is from God. He was in Christ
accomplishing everything that needed to be done. He is now in all
believers, accomplishing everything that needs to be done. (A study in
itself.)

(5) Who was reconciled to God at the cross? The world! The world!
Everything in God's program of redemption centers on His love for all
of humanity. "For God so loved the world..."

Much more could be said, but think about what I have shared.

This study was originally part of a series on the book of Acts given to members of Hebraic Foundations from July 10, 2002 through January 19, 2003. They were written by Pastor Buddy Martin, a former United Pentecostal Church minister, who founded Christian Challenge International. Writings are the copyright of Buddy Martin and reprinted on this site by permission.

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